


And I Built a Home

by ionsquare



Series: The Canvas Was Free [12]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implied Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Road Trips, Stuffed Toys, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 18:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/943285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ionsquare/pseuds/ionsquare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These stuffed animals are Derek's pack. Stuffed animals can't do much, but they give him comfort, and Derek can give them a home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I Built a Home

**Author's Note:**

> After the midseason finale I needed to write some fluff, and this is what I wrote. I tweeted during the finale: “Petition for Derek to drive a minivan in 3B and fill it with stuffed animals. ‘This is my pack.’”
> 
> A giant thank you to my friends who answered my tweet for stuffed animal suggestions and names. Most of the stuffed animals mentioned are actual ones that belong to my friends, and those are their real names. Thank you for sharing them with me! 
> 
> This is dedicated to all of you, and to anyone who finds comfort in a stuffed animal. ♥
> 
> Title comes from _To Build a Home_ by The Cinematic Orchestra.

They drive until they reach Flagstaff, Arizona.

"I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon," Cora says offhandedly. "I want to see something magnificent. Beautiful."

They stay to watch the sunset, Derek holding Cora while she cries because it really is a sight to behold. When it’s time to leave, throngs of tourists crowded in front of them does Cora say—

"Let’s stay. Here."

"Cora, we’ll get caught."

They don’t, and in the morning they watch the sunrise break across the horizon, and Derek knows for certain he’ll never see another sunrise like this one.

They’re hanging around in the gift shop when Derek spots it: a white cat with a pink heart on its belly that says I LOVE ARIZONA. His fingers brush across the soft fur and something tugs deep in his gut, that inherent sense of belonging, of pack — of a bond.

"You spent $7.50 on that thing?" Cora laughs. "It’s so cheap—"

"No it’s not," Derek bites out protectively. He puts it in the back window of the Toyota.  

This is how it begins.

*

In Roswell, New Mexico, Derek picks up a tiny alien from a diner. It has a metallic green shine to it, but in a weird way it reminds him of Stiles.

"An alien isn’t an animal," Cora says when Derek sets it next to Tuffy Kitty from Arizona.

"He could’ve been an omega looking for a pack."

"It has a giant head like Stiles."

Derek smiles for the first time since they left.

*

They bypass Las Vegas for Reno, Nevada. Too many noises and bright lights, and Derek doesn’t understand the point of Las Vegas.

After they’re settled in their motel room, they go for a walk. They find a street fair happening three blocks from their motel, with a farmer’s market going on right across the street. Cora smells every fresh fruit and vegetable, and the look on her face makes Derek’s heart ache, so he lets her buy as much as she wants.

Derek spies a woman selling bins full of stuffed animals, and well, he can’t resist fostering some of them. He picks out a yellow bear that he names Duke (“Really, Derek?” Cora scoffs), a flat, matted elephant that he names Cuddles (it reminds him of Isaac), and a raccoon he names Mickey.

When they’re packing up to head out two days later, Cora picks up on what Derek’s been doing.

"You’re building a pack," Cora says.

Derek fingers one of Duke’s furry, yellow ears. The scrunched face reminds him of Scott.

"Stuffed animals need a home too," Derek swallows.

*

Beaver, Utah smells weird, but they need gas. And Cora wouldn’t stop laughing at _beaver_.

Derek buys a wombat from the gas station much to the chagrin of Cora.

"You’re in Beaver, Utah and you don’t buy a stuffed beaver?!" Cora looks incredulous. "Seriously, Derek."

"Wimwam looked a lot lonelier than the beaver I saw."

Cora stares at him.

“Wimwam?”

"Well, whim-wham means any odd or fanciful object, or thing," Derek explains. "Wombats are pretty odd."

"No, you’re a lot odder than any wombat," Cora laughs, shaking her head.

*

The Toyota breaks down in Crested Butte, Colorado, and Derek can’t stop himself from calling Stiles.

"Where are you guys now?" Stiles’ voice crackles through the phone.

"Crested Butte, Colorado," Derek says, waiting.

Stiles laughs for ten minutes and Derek’s skin tingles.

"I know, right?" Derek chuckles.

Stiles’ laughter begins to die down, and then it’s a long stretch of silence before he starts speaking again.

"Are you… are you coming back?"

"I don’t know yet," Derek admits truthfully.

"Okay," Stiles says quietly. "Are you at least getting yourself some souvenirs? Is Cora eating everything she sees?"

Derek glances over at Cora demolishing a four scoop ice cream cone.

"Like you wouldn’t believe," Derek says, his eyes scanning the back window of the Toyota, completely covered in stuffed animals. "And yeah, I have some souvenirs."

The mechanic tells them the Toyota is a goner, so they decide on a minivan.

“For your pack,” Cora smiles, squeezing Derek’s hand.

Derek buys a zebra in Crested Butte, Colorado. He names it Giggles because he finally has a good memory: the sound of Stiles’ laughter ringing in his ears while broken down in Colorado.

Broken down, but not lost.

*

Cora affectionately names the minivan Piece of Shit.

They’re quiet through the landscape drive of Wyoming, and maybe they needed that, just a quiet drive with nothing but the fresh mountain air stinging their noses. They only spend one night in Montana; the distant sound of howling makes them nervous, and the nighttime feels claustrophobic.

They finally stop in Boise, Idaho, because of potatoes.

Cora eats home fries until she starts growing a food baby. They discover a Hyde Park in the North End of Boise, and that’s where Derek finds a stuffed panda bear. Cora names it Duncan. Boyd liked panda bears because they’re gentle, unassuming.

"Duncan is a good, strong name," she says.

Like Boyd, Derek thinks.

*

They milk cows in Corvallis, Oregon.

Actually, it’s a family run farm that teaches children, and adults, the thrilling life of farming and living off the land. Beecher Marx, the owner of Beecher’s Farm, shows them how to milk cows, shear sheep’s wool, and shuck corn.

"I milked a cow today," Derek tells Stiles.

Stiles laughs through the phone.

"Please tell me Cora took a picture!"

"She’s threatening to use it for our Christmas card."

Stiles goes quiet.

"Stiles? Did I lose you?"

"You’re not coming back are you?"

"I didn’t say that."

"But you’d tell me — us." Stiles goes quiet again. "You’d tell _us_ , right?”

"I… better go. Cora’s waving at me, I think she’s hungry."

Derek picks up a sheep from the Beecher’s Farm gift shop that he names, obviously, Sheepy.

"You’re losing your creative touch," Cora tells him.

Derek remembers Erica’s sheep pajamas. Sheepy stays next to Duncan the panda bear.

*

Seattle’s not as rainy as Derek thought it’d be, but it rains enough. Not enough to drown out the always lingering smell of fish. There’s something about Seattle that feels safe to him and Cora both.

They stay for a week. Derek _almost_ lands a job.

"Probably not best to tell the fish market you can bench press a great white shark," Cora laughs.

"That’s impossible, and you know it."

In a bookshop, Derek buys a giraffe. He doesn’t buy any books as a rule, because he’d end up buying them all, and the minivan is already full of stuffed animals.

"I need a name," Derek tells Stiles.

"For what?"

"A giraffe."

"Did you steal a giraffe?"

"Really, Stiles? Where the hell would someone put a giraffe?"

"Fair point," Stiles says. "Um, how about… Gus? Yeah. Gus the giraffe."

Derek buries his nose in the soft underbelly of the giraffe, the warmth of Stiles’ voice in his ear feels like being wrapped in his Mom’s favorite blanket.

*

Cora begs him to take her to Vancouver, and he’s glad he remembered to bring their passports, just in case. They drink hot cocoa and go ice skating. Derek falls down spectacularly and he’s never heard Cora laugh harder.

He finds a polar bear in a USA-Canada border shop (Cora needed to use the bathroom) and names it Sweet Bear for the sweet smell clinging to it.

Derek gets a text from Stiles that simply says: _We miss you, Gus-Gus._

He rides back into the States with Gus the Giraffe sitting between him and Cora.

*

"I don’t want to go back to Beacon Hills," Cora tells Derek when they’re back in Nevada; Mesquite, this time.

Cora tells him she doesn’t know what she wants, but that she doesn’t want to be back in Beacon Hills, wondering, waiting.

"Take me back to the Grand Canyon. I’ll figure out my next move, on my own."

They hold on to one another for a long time, remembering and memorizing each other’s scent.

"I want you to have Tuffy Kitty," Derek says.

"Derek, no. You can’t break up the pack." Cora smiles, hugging him again.

(Months later, Derek gets a postcard from Cora, _Greetings from Jamaica!_ , telling him about a stuffed doberman she bought and named Theseus. “I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you. You’re my hero, and I love you.”)

*

Stiles is the first person Derek sees when he returns to Beacon Hills. Derek needed toilet paper, but he runs into Stiles outside the grocery store.

"You’re back, with toilet paper," Stiles says, still staring wide-eyed at Derek.

"Ice cream?" Derek nods at the bag Stiles is holding.

"My treat for Dad. He hasn’t had french fries in two months."

Derek shakes his head, mouth quirking with a smile.

"Cora told me about the stuffed animals."

Derek freezes.

"I won’t tell anyone."

Derek stares at the ground.

"I still have this puppy that my Mom gave me on my fifth birthday," Stiles explains. "It has a flashlight built into its chest. It was kinda like my nightlight." Stiles smiles wistfully. "Named him Chet."

Derek finally looks at Stiles.

"They’re… they’re my pack." Derek glances back at the minivan. "Stuffed animals can’t do anything, but they give you comfort, and you can give them a home. And I saw this white cat in the Grand Canyon gift shop and I thought, this is the last cat on the shelf. It’s all alone. It says I Love Arizona, yeah, but to me that cat is Tuffy Kitty." Derek swallows. "She’s pack."

Stiles doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, just stands there digesting Derek’s words, and then—

"Do you want to meet Chet?"

Derek blinks.

“What?”

"Chet, my flashlight puppy, do you want to meet him?"

"Okay," Derek says slowly, looking at the van with a frown.

"Bring your pack with you. Can I meet your pack?"

Derek purses his lips.

“I think you’ll like Giggles, and Wimwam.”

"What about Gus the giraffe?"

"Well, since I dropped Cora back in Flagstaff, Gus has been…" Derek bites his lower lip. "Riding shotgun."

Stiles smiles a little shyly, clearing his throat.

"How about--" Stiles steps up to Derek. "I ride shotgun?"

"What about your Jeep?"

Stiles shrugs.

“She’ll be here when you bring me back.”

When they get to the van, Derek points to each one of his pack, rattling off their names. Stiles is careful with Gus, even going as far as buckling the seat belt across him in Stiles’ lap, smiling over at Derek.

"Can me and Chet be in your pack?" Stiles asks halfway to his house.

Derek smiles to himself.

“I don’t think anyone will have a problem with that.”

Among his pack of stuffed animals, and the secure, Earthy scent of Stiles, Derek finally feels at home.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr; archiving here.
> 
> Thank you, [Mel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblo/), for looking this over. <3
> 
> Me on [Tumblr](http://ionsquare.tumblr.com/), come say hi! :)


End file.
